Express investigation: In 40 of 41 Muzaffarnagar riot cases, including murder, all accused are acquitted
Five prosecution witnesses did a U-turn in court to say they weren’t present when their relatives were murdered – when the FIRs mentioned otherwise. Six prosecution witnesses turned hostile and deposed that police forced them to sign blank papers. Police did not produce murder weapons in court in five cases. The prosecution never cross-examined police on these. In the end, all witnesses turned hostile.
These are among the several glaring holes The Indian Express found in the Uttar Pradesh government’s prosecution cases in 10 murder cases filed on the violence that swept through Muzaffarnagar in 2013, killing at least 65 people. Based on the testimonies, and holding that witnesses, mostly relatives of those killed, had turned hostile, the courts acquitted all in the 10 murder trials that ended between January 2017 and February 2019.…
The Indian Express scrutinised court records and testimonies of complainants and witnesses and interviewed officials in the 10 cases of acquittal to find that – from one family burnt alive to three friends dragged into a field and killed, from a father hacked to death with swords to an uncle beaten to death with spades – 53 men accused of murder walked free.…
SEE ALSO:
- UP police threatens 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots witness (Jul 18, 2019, Yahoo)
https://in.news.yahoo.com/police-threatens-2013-muzaffarnagar-riots-witness-182346207.html - The Muzaffarnagar whitewash: Like in murder, accused got away in rape, rioting cases too (Jul 20, 2019, Indian Express)
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/muzaffarnagar-riots-rape-cases-2013-express-investigation-akhilesh-yadav-government-5838765/ - Riots are still on for me, says father of 2013 Muzaffarnagar carnage victim (Jul 20, 2019, Times of India)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/70298841.cms - DU’s English department agrees to drop sections on Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar riots (Jul 18, 2019, Indian Express)
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/dus-english-department-agrees-to-drop-sections-on-gujarat-and-muzaffarnagar-riots-5834953/
